Electromagnetic relay having a rotatable armature



March 15, 1966 L. A. RICE 3,240,899

ELECTROMAGNETIC RELAY HAVING A ROTATABLE ARMATURE Filed Dec. 22, 1960 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 IN V EN TOR.

Z yma)? 0. Rice 0 R, W

H15 A TTORNY March 15, 1966 L. A. RICE 3,240,899

ELECTROMAGNETIC RELAY HAVING A ROTATABLE ARMATURE Filed Dec. 22, 1960 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN V EN TOR.

ynmzz 0. Rice H15 ATTORNEY March 15, 1966 L. A. RICE 3,240,899

ELECTROMAGNETIC RELAY HAVING A ROTATABLE ARMATURE Filed Dec. 22. 1960 S Sheets-Sheet 5 7 INVENTOR.

Zymaw a Rice H15 ATTORNEV United States Patent 3,240,899 ELECTROMAGNETIC RELAY HAVING A ROTATABLE ARMATURE Lyman A. Rice, Anderson, Ind., assignor to General Motors Corporation, Detroit, Mich., a corporation of Delaware Filed Dec. 22, 1960, Ser. No. 77,720 Claims. (Cl. 200104) This invention relates to electromagnetic relays and more particularly to miniature relays that control a plurality of circuits.

One of the objects of this invention is to provide a relay that includes an actuator member that is driven rotatably by electromagnetic means, the actuator member controlling the movement of a plurality of contact fingers that cooperate with a plurality of fixed contacts, and further, wherein the actuator member is spring biased in one direction to cause a first set of said contact fingers to leave the fixed contacts, the electromagnetic means when energized causing said actuating member to shift rotatably against the spring bias to cause a second set of contact fingers to leave their fixed contacts while permitting the first set of contact fingers to move back to a position engaging their respective fixed contacts.

Another object of this invention is to provide an actuator for a relay that comprises an armature formed of magnetic material which carries a member formed of insulating material and a spring member formed of nonmagnetic material.

A further object of this invention is to provide a relay of the type wherein the armature is rotatably shifted to control switching and wherein the pole assembly of the relay includes a magnetic part and a non-magnetic part, the non-magnetic part having means operating as a stop for the armature and also engaging one end of a spring that is carried by the armature in order to bias the armature against the stop.

Another object of this invention is to provide a hermetically sealed relay that is evacuated by means of a sealable pipe that passes through the header assembly of the relay.

Further objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings wherein preferred embodiments of the present invention are clearly shown.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is an end view of a relay made in accordance with this invention.

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged sectional view taken along line 22 of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 is a sectional view taken along line 33 of FIGURE 2.

FIGURE 4 is a sectional view taken along line 44 of FIGURE 2.

FIGURE 5 is a sectional view taken along line 5-5 of FIGURE 2.

FIGURE 6 is a sectional view of an actuator assembly that forms a component part of the relay of this invention.

FIGURE 7 is a sectional view taken along line 77 of FIGURE 3.

Referring now to the drawings and more particularly to FIGURE 2, the relay of this invention includes a housing or can designated by reference numeral 10 which is formed of a magnetic material such as steel. The can or housing 10 encloses the working parts of the relay and it is seen that this can encloses a coil winding assembly which is generally designated by reference numeral 12. The coil winding assembly includes the coil winding 14 wound on a spool 16 formed of insulating material.

The spool member 16 fits on a steel core18 which is 3,240,899 Patented Mar. 15, 1966 fixed to one end of the can 10 by a headed over portion that forms the rivet head 20.

It can be seen that the coil winding assembly 12 is segregated from the remainder of the relay by a barrier plate 22 which is formed of non-magnetic material such as brass and which has a portion engaging the core 18. The plate 22 is secured to the can in any suitable manner such as by soldering or welding or a combination of the two where the solder forms a seal. The core 18 has a portion 24 that is formed with a hole that receives a pin 26. The pin 26 is formed of a non-magnetic material such as stainless steel and has a groove 28 which receives a retaining ring 30 or other locking device for holding the actuator assembly, generally designated by reference numeral 32, in place. The portion of the barrier member 22 contacting the core 18 is preferably soldered thereto so that the core and barrier member may be assembled as a unit into the can 10 prior to soldering the barrier member 22 to the can.

A washer 34 formed of non-magnetic material such as brass is interposed between the portion 24 of the core 18 and the actuator assembly 32. It is seen that a Washer 36 which may be formed of steel material is interposed between the one end of the spool 16 and one end of the can 10.

The actuator assembly which has been generally designated by reference numeral 32 comprises an armature member 38 formed of steel material which carries a contact actuator 40 which is formed of a suitable insulating material. Interposed between the actuator member 40 and the armature 38 is a spring member 42 which is formed of a nonmagnetic material such as stainless steel. It can be seen that the various parts that make up the actuator assembly 32 are all held together by the rivets 44. The armature 38 which is formed of steel material has a cup-shaped opening 46 that communicates with a hole 48. The cup-shaped opening 46 fits around the portion 24 of the core member Whereas the opening 48 receives the stainless steel pin 26. It can be seen that with this construction the actuator assembly 32 may rotate with respect to the stainless steelpin 26 but may not move axially relative thereto due to the retaining ring 30.

The actuator member 40 which is formed of insulating material has an annular section 50 and an integral axially extending section which is formed with notches 52 that define sections 54. The side walls defining the notches 52, as will be described more fully hereinafter, are used to actuate the contact fingers of the relay.

The spring 42 has a portion 56 fitted between the actuator member 40 and the armature 38 and has an arcuately extending spring arm portion 58 that is located in a plane substantially normal to the plane of the portion 56. The spring arm portion 58 merges into a straight section 60 which contacts a stop member 62 formed integrally with a plate member 64. The spring member 42, as will become more readily apparent hereinafter, operates to bias the actuator assembly 32 in one direction of rotation.

The armature 38 has pole tip portions 66 and 68 which cooperate respectively with pole tip portions 70 and 72 formed integrally with a pole piece member generally designated by reference numeral 74. The pole piece member 74 is annular in shape with the exception of the pole tips 70 and 72 which have a configuration shown in FIGURE 5. The pole piece 74 carries the plate member 64 which is welded or otherwise secured thereto at points 76. The plate member 64 is formed of a nonmagnetic material such as brass and as noted hereinbefore, has an integral upturned portion 62 which engages the straight section 60 of the spring member 42. The plate member 64 also has a portion 78 which is struck up and which forms a stop for the armature 38 when the armature is urged in a counterclockwise direction in FIGURE 5 by the spring member 42. It can be seen that the stop member will engage one side of the pole tip portion 68 as the armature is urged in a counterclockwise direction during the time that the coil winding 14 of the relay is deenergized.

The open end of the can is closed by a header assembly which is generally designated by reference numeral 80. This header assembly 80 is formed of a plate member 82 which is preferably formed of a metal material and which supports a plurality of terminals. A first group of these terminals, each one of which is designated by reference numeral 84, is located in an inner circle around the central longitudinal axis of the header member 80. It can be seen from FIGURE 3 that each one of the terminal members 84 carries a contact assembly which is a unitary piece of spring metal material having arms 86 and 88. The single piece of spring metal material defining arms 86 and 88 has a section 90 which is welded or otherwise secured directly to a pin 84 and has arcuate sections connecting section 90 with arms 86 and 88. It is seen that the contact finger or arm 86 carries an electrical contact 92 whereas the contact arm 88 carries an identical electrical contact 94. It also can be seen from FIGURE 3 that the ends of the contact arms 86 and 88 are positioned within the notched out portions 52 of the actuator member 40.

The contacts 92 cooperate with fixed contacts 96 which take the form of thimbles or cups that are welded respectively to the ends of terminals 98. In a like manner, the contact 94 cooperates with fixed cup-shaped contacts 100 which are welded to the ends of terminals 102. As can be seen from FIGURE 7, the cups 100 have an internal diameter that is larger than the external diameter of the terminals 102. This is an important feature of this invention as it makes it possible to locate all of the cupshaped contacts 96 and 100 on the terminals 98 and 102 with a jig and then weld the contacts to the end of the terminals.

It can be seen that in the FIGURE 3 position of the actuator 32 all of the contacts 94 are out of engagement with their respective fixed contacts 100 whereas all of the contacts 92 are in engagement with their respective fixed contacts 96. This position corresponds to the deenergized position of the coil winding 14 and in this position, the spring 42 shifts the armature until one side of the pole tip 68 engages the stop 78. It will be apparent that when coil winding 14 is energized, the armature 38 is shifted such that the pole tips 66 and 68 are pulled into engagement with the pole tips 70 and 72. In such a position, the contacts 94 will all move into engagement with respective fixed contacts 100 whereas the contacts 92 will all be moved out of engagement with the fixed contacts 96. This latter condition will correspond to the energized condition of the relay.

The terminals 84 and 104 are insulated from the metal portion 82 of the header assembly 80 by suitable insulating material that is positioned in openings in the metal material 82. The header assembly carries other terminals 98 and 102 which pass through openings formed in the metal material 82 of header assembly 80 and which are suitably insulated therefrom. The terminals 104 have ends which fit within bronze connectors 106. The connectors 106 have inwardly struck detents of the type illustrated in the sectional view of FIGURE 3 which tightly grasp the inner ends of pins 104. The connectors 106 also receive the terminal leads 108 which are connected with the coil winding 14. The terminal leads 108 project into the opposite ends of the connectors 106 from the terminals 104 and are also tightly grasped by inwardly struck detents.

The lead wires 108 from the coil winding 14 feed through terminals generally designated by reference numeral 110. These feed through terminals include a metal 4. eyelet portion 112 which is secured to the barrier member 22 and a metal feed through tube portion 114 which is separated from the eyelet member 112 by insulating material 116. The lead wire 108 may be soldered or otherwise secured to the eyelet portion 114 of the feed through connector 110.

The header member is welded to the can member 10 and a quantity of solder 118 is applied between the can and header in order to provide a hermetic seal for the relay. The header member carries a tube 120 which passes through an opening in the metal material 82 and which is insulated therefrom by a suitable insulating material. After the relay is completely assembled, the interior thereof is evacuated through the tube 120. The relay is then filled with a gas such as nitrogen and the tube 120 is cut off and crimped. A quantity of solder 122 is then applied to the crimped portion to completely seal off the nitrogen filled relay.

In manufacturing this relay, an assembly is made up of parts which include the coil winding 14, the spool 16, the core 18, the barrier plate 22, with its attached feed through terminals 110, and this assembly may be then slipped into the can 10 and a portion of the core struck over to form the rivet part 20. The pole piece 74 with its attached stop plate 64 may then be fitted to the interior of the can 10 whereupon the pole piece 74 is Welded directly to the can 10. Following this, the actuator assembly 32 may be fitted to the pin member 26 and the retaining ring snapped in place. Following this proce dure, the header plate 80 may be secured to the can 10 as by welding. In assembling the header, the terminals 106, of course, must be assembled in the right sequence in order to connect the terminals 104 with the leads 108 of the coil winding 14. After the header member has been secured to the can 10, the relay is evacuated as pointed out hereinbefore, is filled with nitrogen and then is sealed off.

It is apparent that the connectors 106 may be first slipped on to the lead wires 108 and then the terminals 104 fitted into the other end of connectors 106 when the header assembly 80 is set in place. It is also apparent that the connector 106 might first be secured to the terminals 104 and then slipped onto the lead wires 108 when the header assembly 80 is set in place and welded.

In the operation of the relay of this invention, it will be apparent that the controlling circuit for the relay will be connected with terminals 104 so as to control the energization and deenergization of coil winding 14. When the coil winding 14 is energized through the terminals 104, a flux path is set up through the steel can of the relay and through the pole piece thereof which causes the pole tips 6-8 and 66 of armature 38 to be pulled into engagement with the pole tips 72 and 70 of the pole piece 70.

When the coil winding 14 is deenergized by breaking the circuit to terminals 104, there is no longer an attraction for the armature 38, and the spring member 42 therefore will rotate the armature in a counterclockwise direction as illustrated in FIGURE 5. This will cause the contacts carried by contact fingers 88 to become disengaged from fixed contacts and will cause the contacts 92 carried by contact fingers 86 to become engaged with the fixed contacts 96 as is illustrated in FIG- URE 3. Thus, in the energized position of the relay, a circuit will be made between pins 84 and 102 whereas in the deenergized mode of operation of the relay, a circuit will be completed between the terminals 84 and the terminals 98.

It is pointed out that the relay of this invent-ion is relatively immune to false operation due to vibration. Thus, when the coil winding 14 is deenergized and the parts of the relay are in the FIGURE 3 position, it can be seen that there is clearance between the ends of contact arms, 86 and the ends of sections 54 of actuator 40. No vibra-, tion can therefore be transmitted to arms 86 from actua-l tor 40. The same is true when the coil winding 14 is energized as there then will be clearance between the ends of arms 88 and the ends of sections 54.

The welding of the hairpin type spring assemblies including arms 86 and 88 to pins 84 in such a fashion that pins are inside the assemblies reduces the stress on the Weld that secures each assembly to a pin. Thus, as flexing of the arms 86 and 88 takes place, the spring assembly is wound-up on the post and therefore there is no stress produced to break the weld.

It is pointed out that with the relay of this invention, it is possible to set the header assembly 80 in place and then rotate it with respect to the can until the contact carrying arms 88 and 86 are in a correct position relative to the actuator 40. The header assembly is then permanently secured to the can.

While the embodiments of the present invention as herein disclosed, constitute a preferred form, it is to be understood that other forms might be adopted.

What is claimed is as follows:

1. An electromagnetic relay comprising, a housing member, a coil winding positioned within said housing, an armature rotatably supported within said housing, a pole piece supported by said housing having portions located in alignment with portions of said armature, a plate member carried by said pole piece having first and second projecting portions, an actuator member carried by said armature, switch means operable by said actuator member when said armature is shifted, and a spring member carried by said armature having a portion thereof engaging one of the projecting portions of said plate member to bias said armature into engagement with the other projecting portion of said plate member when said coil winding is deenergized.

2. An electromagnetic relay comprising, a housing member, a coil winding assembly positioned within said housing member including a coil winding and a core member formed of magnetic material, said core member being rigidly secured to said housing member, a pin member formed of nonmagnetic material fixed to said core member and extending axially in one direction from one end of said core member, an armature member formed of magnetic material journalled for rotation on said pin member, a washer formed of nonmagnetic material located between one end of said core member and said armature member and encircling said pin member, a retaining ring fitted to an annular groove formed in said pin member for retaining said armature member on said pin member, and switch means actuated when said armature member is shifted.

3, A rotatable actuator assembly for an electromagnetic relay comprising, an armature formed of magnetic material, an actuating member formed of insulating material including means for shifting switch contacts of a relay, and a sheet metal spring formed of nonmagnetic material having first and second sections, said first section being positioned between and in engagement with said armature and actuating member, and means for securing said armature, said spring and said actuating member together, said second section of said sheet metal spring member forming a spring finger that is adapted to engage a stop means and to bias said armature rotatably in one direction.

4. A rotatable actuator assembly for an electromag netic relay comprising, an armature formed of magnetic material, said armature having at least one pole face which is adapted to be attracted toward a pole piece, an actuator member formed of insulating material, a sheet metal spring having a first section located between and in engagement with said actuator member and said armature, said spring having a second section forming a spring finger which is adapted to engage a fixed stop means to urge said actuator assembly rotatably in one direction, and means for securing said spring member and said actuator member to said aramture.

5. A pole piece assembly for an electromagnetic relay comprising, an annular member formed of magnetic material having integral pole tip portions extending radially inwardly, and a plate member formed of nonmagnetic material secured to said annular member, said plate member having first and second axially extending integral portions located within said annular member that are adapted to respectively engage an armature of said relay and a spring carried by said armature.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,447,749 8/ 1948 Hallett.

2,668,207 2/1954 Bengtsson 200-103 2,836,674 5/1958 Krantz 200104 X 2,843,696 7/1958 Sturrup 20087 2,862,082 11/1958 Pierce 200166 2,882,460 4/1959 Sauer 20087 X 2,916,584 12/1959 Molyneux ZOO-87 2,927,185 3/1960 Bonnaire 200166 2,945,104 7/1960 Jaeschke 20087 2,952,755 9/ 1960 Brinker et a1 20087 2,976,379 3/1961 Rhodes 200-104 3,036,176 5/ 1962 Kenyon et al. 20087 BERNARD A. GILHEANY, Primary Examiner,

MAX L. LEVY, ROBERT K. SCHAEFER, Examiners. 

1. AN ELECTROMAGNETIC RELAY COMPRISING, A HOUSING MEMBER, A COIL WINDING POSITIONED WITHIN SAID HOUSING, AN ARMATURE ROTATABLY SUPPORTED WITHIN SAID HOUSING, A POLE PIECE SUPPORTED BY SAID HOUSING HAVING PORTIONS LOCATED IN ALIGNMENT WITH PORTIONS OF SAID ARMATURE, A PLATE MEMBER CARRIED BY SAID POLE PIECE HAVING FIRST AND SECOND PROJECTING PORTIONS, AN ACTUATOR MEMBER CARRIED BY SAID ARMATURE, SWITCH MEANS OPERABLE BY SAID ACTUATOR MEMBER WHEN SAID ARMATURE IS SHIFTED, AND A SPRING MEMBER CARRIED BY SAID ARMATURE HAVING A PORTION THEREOF ENGAGING ONE OF THE PROJECTING PORTIONS OF SAID PLATE MEMBER TO BIAS SAID ARMATURE INTO ENGAGEMENT WITH THE OTHER PROJECTING PORTION OF SAID PLATE MEMBER WHEN SAID COIL WINDING IS DEENERGIZED. 